Newspaper Page Text
November 10 - 16,2010
www.themaroontiger.com
WORLD & LO CAL
3
Recent Bomb Threat in Fulton Courthouse
Amid Multiple Criminal Cases Causes Stir
Whitney Barr
Contributing Writer
wbarr@ scmail .spelman .edu
T he Fulton County Courthouse was shak
en up on Nov. 1 - for about an hour. Of
ficials were notified of a bomb threat around
11:40 a.m. and told everyone inside to re
main in a “shelter in place,” Don Plummer, a
Fulton County Courthouse spokesman, said.
People were instructed to stay in the build
ing and away from windows. No one was
allowed to leave.
Immediately after the threat spread, ca
nine officers sniffed for evidence and al
though nothing was found, two trials were
mildly disrupted. Police reported to the
Atlanta Journal- Constitution that this may
have been more than a coincidence.
One of the trials involved the Nine Trey
Blood gang members. Blood members at
tacked one of the former member's girl
friend, killed her 17-year-old son, and dog,
Princess.
Days prior, a man had been shot in the
head at former member Jesus Cintron’s
home (which he shared with his girlfriend).
They had been illegally selling alcohol,
food, massages, and running a gambling
operation. Cintron obliged police efforts to
report the crime.
As a result, Cintron was beaten to death
and shot through his eye by Blood members.
His girlfriend grew suspicious of his
whereabouts in the midst of the beating.
She called one of the members and they
immediately came with a female member,
Lady T, to kill her.
As the killing team and the girlfriend en
gaged in a brawl, a female next-door neigh
bor grew concerned about the noise. A
gun was put to her head
but there were no
bullets fired
Four
mem
bers pleaded not guilty to the murder. On a
separate offense, one of the members, Derek
“Montana” Davis, a former Morehouse stu
dent, pleaded guilty to reduce charges.
Leader John Phillip “Jersey” Auletta was
given three life sentences plus 105 years.
Others received sentences ranging from
three life sentences plus 40 years to life plus
55 years. The 14-year-old member and trig
ger-man was given the latter. Altogether,
the gang received a 22-count indictment.
The other trial that was going on concur
rently involved Aimee Michael. 24, who
was accused of killing five people in a crash.
The fatal crash was on 1-285 during Easter
2009.
Michael was driving her parents’
gold BMW during the
accident. As a
result of
fleeing
the
scene and getting the car repaired to mask
evidence, she was charged with five counts
of vehicular homicide, one count of serious
injury by vehicle, six counts of hit and run,
misdemeanor counts of tampering with evi
dence, reckless driving and failure to main
tain a lane.
Just four days before the accident on
Camp Creek Parkway changed her life, Mi
chael, a University of Pittsburgh graduate,
had submitted an application to Wake For
est’s School of Business.
Michael was allegedly steering to the right
to avoid a car coming into her lane. Though
other cars were involved, debate surrounds
who initiated the series of crashes and
deaths.
She will be serving a 50-year sentence
and her mother, who helped in the cover up,
will serve eight years. Her father, a Marine,
was away in the Middle East and continues
to remain silent.
Collectively, these cases involved eight
deaths and 37 counts of indictment.
Three of
Atlanta’s Public
School Districts
Under Formal
Review
Nadaa-Latifah Robinson
Contributing Writer
nrobin 12@scmail .spelman.edu
A tlanta school board members was given a proverbial
slap in the face on Nov. 1 when they were told by Mark
Elgart, president and CEO of AdvancED, that their ability to govern
the school system was “in serious jeopardy.” Furthermore, a staff member from
the one of the nation’s top accreditation agencies, the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools (SACS) and its parent, AdvancED, would be by for a formal review.
Over 200.000 students in three school districts are affected by this impromptu ac
creditation claim. This is not the first time that SACS came after one of Metro Atlanta’s
school boards. In 2008, SACS revoked Clayton County Schools’ accreditation, and
they are still on probation.
The SACS, with its ability to revoke accreditation, has a lot of power in the commu
nity because loss of accreditation can affect federal funding and scholarships given to
students, such as the HOPE scholarship. It also affects college acceptances, and even
the property values in that area.
Perceptibly, the members of the Atlanta School Board are angry. Many feel that El
gart is overstepping his bounds and compromising the integrity of his agency since his
desire to investigate the school system was prompted by a lawsuit brought by angry
board members, who wanted to overturn last month’s appointment of a new chairman
and vice chairwoman.
Some parents also feel that this accreditation hiccup is unnecessary. One parent,
Anne McGlamry, feels that Elgart is, “playing around with accreditation.”
“You can’t do that to these kids. The loss of accreditation is not something that you
take back in a week,” McGlamry said.
The team will be in Atlanta on Dec. 9-10, focusing on board interaction and decision
making related to governance.
\\ ±m
% Lawsuit
• w Revived Over
< the Production
J of Atlanta
' Projects
Addison DeMoss
Contributing Writer
addisondemoss@yahoo.com
A divided Georgia Supreme Court revived a lawsuit on
Nov. 1 claiming that a range of luxury Atlanta devel
opments received unconstitutional tax breaks, threatening millions of
dollars in incentives that went to upscale projects across the city. The court’s
four to three decision found that a Fulton County judge had prematurely dismissed a 2009
lawsuit filed by the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation before thoroughly reviewing
the information. Presiding Justice George Carley wrote that the complaint was dismissed
without first establishing whether it was “arbitrary and unreasonable.” “It’s a wonderful
ruling for the taxpayers,” said John Sherman, president of the Fulton County Taxpayers
Foundation. “Giving 50 percent tax abatements to projects in wealthy areas like Midtown
and Buckhead is an abomination of state law.”
Sherman filed suit against the Fulton County Board of Assessors, claiming the tax breaks
granted by the board for large developments in both Buckhead and Midtown were uncon
stitutional. Among the projects under development were The St. Regis Buckhead, The
InterContinental Buckhead and The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Midtown. It centers on a
formula the Fulton County Board of Assessors used to decide what the fair market value of
the properties should be. The lawsuit says that the board agreed to value the property at 50
percent of its fair market value and then to gradually increase it by five percent a year over
the life of the lease. According to Sherman, his lawsuit says this valuation method is illegal
because it allows the developers to pay a lesser amount than their fair share of property
taxes because the properties were initially appraised at less than fair market value, leaving
others to pay the remaining amount.
Sherman said the tax abatements should be used to develop new industry, such as the Kia
car plant in West Point, or new development in areas that are suffering economically. In
stead, the Board of Assessors used the incentives to illegally fund projects that were built
decades ago and for further development in upscale areas such as Midtown and Buckhead.
“I am sure once the case goes forward, the facts will bear us out,” Sherman said. He
estimated that “multi, multi millions of tax dollars” are being lost because of the tax breaks.
Justice Carley stated. “The biggest issue in the case is whether the valuation method used
by the Board of Assessors fairly sets the appropriate market value for the properties and
that the method being used was not arbitrary or unreasonable.” Carley noted that Sherman
had already presented an affidavit from a qualified expert real estate appraiser who said the
board’s method does not fairly nor accurately determine fair market value.
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